Wall hanger for a stringed instrument

ABSTRACT

The wall hanger includes an upper plate provided with a pair of outstanding fingers which engage and retain the neck of the instrument to be supported, and furnish support at two spaced points in the direction of the plane of the wall. A lower plate is provided which has a rest against which the body of the instrument presses. The rest, in conjunction with the fingers, provides a support in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the wall. The lower plate is interconnected to the upper plate by a tie-member.

Continuation-impart 01' application Ser. No. 655,019, July 21, 1967, now abandoned.

[54] WALL HANGER FOR A STRINGED INSTRUMENT 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. 248/309, 211/60, 211/87 [51] .Int. Cl A471 5/00 [50] 211/87, 89, 96, 103, 106, 39, 60, 60T; 248/309, 316, 360

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 495,789 4/1893 Denniston et a1 211/87X O United States Patent [1113,565,383

[72] Inventor Donald C. Friede 1,311,450 7/1919 Laraway 21 1/13X 4839 Dorsie Drive, Sappingtou, Mo, 63128 1,684,912 9/ 1928 Dunklau 21 H13 [21] Appl. N0. 732,383 2,690,152 9/1954 Riccio 248/309X [22] Filed May 27,1968 2,150,802 3/1939 Latsch 248/309X [45] Patemed 1971 Primary ExaminerEdward C. Allen Assistant Examiner-J. Franklin Foss Att0rneyCohn and Powell ABSTRACT; The wall hanger includes an upper plate provided with a pair of outstanding fingers which engage and retain the neck of the instrument to be supported, and furnish support at two spaced points in the direction of the plane of the wall. A lower plate is provided which has a rest against which the body of the instrument presses. The rest, in conjunction with the fingers, provides a support in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the wall. The lower plate is interconnected to the upper plate by a tie-member.

t'PA TENTED FEBZSIHYI Q 13,565,383

DONALD C. F'RIEDE- I 1 WALL HANGER For: A srnmosn INSTRUMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This is a continuation-in-part of application, Ser. No. 655,019, filed Jul. 21, 1967, now abandoned.

This invention generally relates to a hanger for a musical instrument and more particularly to a hanger which suspends the instrument on a wall.

It is desirable that a musical instrument hanger, which is to be used primarily in a home, be'relatively lightweight, and of pleasing appearance, in addition to being functional. The present wall hanger combines these qualities in a manner which has, heretofore, not been achieved. d

Instrument stands in the prior art have relied invariably on a structure in which .the primary emphasis has been placed on holding the instrument body, the instrument being disposed either in an upright orsideways position with its weight resting on the body. Often such a stand is located at floor level which renders the instrument easily susceptible to damage, and particularly to damage of the vulnerable body.

By suspending the instrument, from its .neck on a wall hanger, the instrument can be placed ata location off the floor which corresponds to normal eye levelwhere it may be easily seen. In such a location, using the wall hanger, the instrument may be easily removed and replaced.

The manner of suspending the instrument also insures that the instrument is not completely free to swing as it would be if a simple,'single support point were provided. The wall hanger is, in consequence, considerably more stable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The wall hanger for a musical instrument includes a support provided with a hook means which is adapted to suspend the instrument from its neck. The hook means provides support for each side of the neck, thereby to inhibit free suspension in a direction parallel to the plane of the wall.

A bearing means is disposed below the hook means which cooperates with the hook means to preclude free suspension in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the wall.

The support includes an upper wallplate, from which projects a pair of cantilever fingers, the fingers constituting the hook means. The fingers are upwardly disposed at their free ends to form an inclined plane which causes the instrument neck received between the fingers to exert a pressure against the upper plate and causes the instrument body to exert a pressure against the bearing means. 1

The bearing means includes a plate having a raised portion that constitutes a rest for the body of the instrument.

The support and the bearing means are interconnected by means extending between them. The interconnecting means between the support and the bearing means is provided by a tie-member depending from the support plate. One end of the tie-member is attached to the support plate, and the lower end is attached to the bearing plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the wall hanger; FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the hanger, illustrating the disposition of the instrument in phantom outline;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the upper wallplate; FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross section taken on line 4-4 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross section taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is an alternate disposition of the fingers to accommodate an instrument having offset pegs.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now by characters of reference to the drawing, and first to FIG. 1, it will be understood that the wall hanger 10 includes a support 11 comprised essentially of an upper wallplate 12, preferably constructed of plastic and a pair of cantilever fingers 13 which constitute a hook means.

A finger-supporting means 14 is carried by the upper wallplate 12, the means 14 being substantially flush with the front face of the plate 12, and being constructed preferably of plastic. The finger-supporting means includes a plurality of sockets 15 located in a predetermined pattern so that a selected pair will accommodate almost any instrument for hanging, as will be later described. Formed as an integral part of the finger-supporting means 14' is a flange 16 having a plurality (three in the embodiment shown) of slots 17 arranged in horizontal alignment with the middle slot 17 located on the vertical center axis of the upper wallplate l2 and with the other two slots 17 located the same distance from, yet on opposite sides of such axis.

It will be observed that thecantilever fingers 13, fitted into a selected pair of sockets 15 in horizontally spaced relation, project outwardly from the upper plate 12 and are upwardly inclined so that their free ends are disposed above the ends which are attached to the upper plate 11. This angular disposition-is best illustrated in FIG. 4. FIG- 2 illustrates the disposition and mounting of a musical instrument 25 on the wall hanger l0 that'is mounted to the wall 15.

It will be understood that the instrument 25 to be supported is, as shown in-FlG. 2, of .that type of stringed instrument having a body 27 and an elongate neck 26. Such an instrument 25 is representative of both the lute class and viol class as typified by the guitar and violin respectively. The neck 26 of such instruments is provided with a pegboard 28, which includes a plurality of pegs 29 to which the strings of the instrument 25 are attached. The pegboard 28 is usually somewhat wider than the intermediate portion of the neck 2.6, thereby providing a shoulder 30 shown in FIGS. 2 and 6.

From FIG. lit will be observed that the wall hanger 10 is provided with a lower bearing means 20.which is downwardly disposed from the support 11. The bearing means 20 includes a bearing plate 21 preferably constructed of plastic, having an outwardly projecting boss 22 at its center. The boss 22 is molded integrally with the bearing plate 21. The boss 22 frictionally contacts and provides a rest for the body 27 of the instrument 25.

A tie-member 24, provided by a flexible chain, depends from the support 11 and provides a means interconnecting the support 11 to the lower bearing 20. The bearing 20 is attached to the lower end of the tie-member 24.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, theupper wallplate 12 includes a peripheral flange 31 extending rearwardly from the front wall face. At the-lower apex of wallplate 12, the flange 31 is provided with a small hole 32. Integral with the flange 31 at the lower apex, are a pair of spaced brackets 33, one bracket 33 on each side of the hole 32. Each bracket 33 is provided with a small recess 34 in its top margin which is vertically aligned with the hole 32. a

The chain, constituting the tie-member 24, is inserted through the hole 32 and between the brackets 33. A pin 35 is slipped through one chain link and is seated in the bracket recesses 34, whereby to attach the tie-member 24 to the wallplate 12.

The same type of connection is used to attach the tiemember 24 to the bearing plate 20.

It will be understood that the effective length of the tiemember 24 can be selectively adjusted to vary the distance between the wallplate 12 and bearing plate 21 in order to accommodate the particular size of the instrument to be hung. To make such adjustment, the chain is pulled through either or both of the holes 32 in the plates12 and 21 respectively and the pins 35 are slipped in selected chain links to obtain the appropriate chain length.

As shown by FIG. 2, the pegboard 28 of the instrument 25 is supported by the inclined cantilever fingers 13. In the particular arrangement shown, the pegboard 28,. including the projecting pegs 29, forms the upper part of the neck 26. The pegs 29 engage the cantilever fingers l3 and are supported by these fingers. To accommodate instruments which have oppositely disposed pegs 29, the cantilever fingers 13 are disposed in substantially horizontal side-by-side relation as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6, on the other hand, indicates an arrangement for use with those instruments in which the pegs 29 at opposite sides of the board 28 are offset vertically. In such a case, it will be clear from FIG. 6 that the spaced cantilever fingers 13 are simply staggered vertically to accommodate the offset disposition of the pegs 29. Alternatively, of course, the fingers 13 may be disposed in side-by-side relation to support the shoulder indicated by numeral 30 in FIG. 6.

In any event, it is intended that the neck-engaging support points provided by the cantilever fingers 13 are to be disposed in such a manner as to support the musical instrument so that it is suspended in a substantially vertical line. In this way, the weight of the instrument 25 is distributed between the support points provided by the fingers 13 which engage opposite sides of the neck 26. This arrangement is particularly desirable because it inhibits free swinging movement of the instrument 25 in a direction parallel to the plane of the wall 15.

The arrangement of the support points provided by the cantilever fingers 13 in conjunction with the boss 22 likewise provides for stability of the instrument 25 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the wall 15. The upward inclination of the free ends of the fingers l3 insures that the instrument 25 will hang close to the wall, and moreover provides that pressure will be exerted by the body 27 of the instrument 25 against the bearing boss 22. In this way, the instrument 25 is precluded from swinging freely in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the wall because a lateral component of the weight of the instrument is exerted in this direction.

The arrangement of support points provided by the cantilever fingers 13 and the rest point provided by the boss 22, which is described above, therefore provides the suspended instrument 25 with a stability in two directions, which it otherwise would not have. The reason for this is that two support points are provided both in the direction of the plane of the wall and in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the wall.

The freely swinging suspension of the wall hanger with respect to the wall 15, in a plane parallel to wall 18 is precluded. The upper plate 11 is preferably attached to the wall 18 by means of pair of fasteners (not shown) which extend into a pair of the flange slots 17.

lclaim:

l. A wall hanger for supporting a stringed instrument, of the type having a neck and a body, on a wall, the hanger comprismg:

a. a support including a hook means adapted to engage the neck of the instrument at substantially oppositely disposed support points whereby to suspend the body of the instrument, the support being adapted to be attached to the wall;

b. bearing means, downwardly disposed from the support, and adapted to provide lateral bearing for the body in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the wall;

c. interconnecting means extending between the support and the bearing means to interconnect said bearing means to the support in hanging relation;

d. the support including a wallplate;

e. the hook means including a pair of spaced, outwardly projecting cantilever fingers upwardly disposed at their free end and providing a two-point support adapted to engage the neck of the instrument received between the fingers;

f. the bearing means including a bearing plate having a end attached to the wallplate and having the other end attached to the bearing plate; and

h. the fingers and the raised portion of the bearing means cooperating to suspend the instrument so that a lateral component of the instrument weight causes bearingpressure on the bearing plate, thereby providing stab: l y of the instrument in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the wall.

2. A wall hanger for supporting a stringed instrument, of the type having a neck and a body, on a wall, the hanger comprisa. a support including a hook means adapted to engage the neck of the instrument substantially oppositely disposed support points whereby to suspend the body of the instrument, the support being adapted to be attached to the wall;

b. bearing means, downwardly disposed from the support, and adapted to provide lateral bearing for the body in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the wall;

c. interconnecting means extending between the support and the bearing means to interconnect said bearing means to the support in hanging relation.

d. the support including a wallplate;

e. the hook means including a pair of horizontally spaced fingers extending forwardly and upwardly from the wallplate, the fingers being adapted to engage opposite side of the instrument neck between the fingers;

f. the bearing means including a bearing plate;

g. a boss extending forwardly of the bearing plate and adapted to engage frictionally in bearing the rear side of the instrument'body; and

h. the inclined fingers tending to urge the instrument neck against the wallplate and tending to urge the instrument body against the boss, whereby to preclude swinging of the suspended instrument in a direction parallel or perpendicular to the plane of the wall.

3. A wall hanger for supporting a stringed instrument, of the type having a neck and a body, on a wall, the hanger comprismg:

a. a support including a hook means adapted to engage the neck of the instrument at substantially oppositely disposed support points whereby to suspend the instrument, the support being adapted to be attached to the wall;

b. bearing means, downwardly disposed from the support, and adapted to provide lateral bearing for the body in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the wall;

c. interconnecting means extending between the support and the bearing means to interconnect said support and bearing means;

d. the support including a wallplate, the hook means projecting laterally from the wallplate;

e. the bearing means including a bearing plate having a raised portion adapted to contact the body of the instrument; and

f. the interconnecting means extending between the support and the bearing means including:

1 a flexible chain;

2. means attaching the chain to one of the plates;

3. the other plate including a flange provided with a hole;

4. a pair of spaced brackets, one on each side of the hole,

the brackets having recesses aligned with the hole; and

5. a pin selectively inserted through the chain and seating in the bracket recesses to attach the chain to the said other plate, the chain being located through the hole and between the brackets. 

1. A wall hanger for supporting a stringed instrument, of the type having a neck and a body, on a wall, the hanger comprising: a. a support including a hook means adapted to engage the neck of the instrument at substantially oppositely disposed support points whereby to suspend the body of the instrument, the support being adapted to be attached to the wall; b. bearing means, downwardly disposed from the support, and adapted to provide lateral bearing For the body in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the wall; c. interconnecting means extending between the support and the bearing means to interconnect said bearing means to the support in hanging relation; d. the support including a wallplate; e. the hook means including a pair of spaced, outwardly projecting cantilever fingers upwardly disposed at their free end and providing a two-point support adapted to engage the neck of the instrument received between the fingers; f. the bearing means including a bearing plate having a raised portion adapted to provide a rest for the body of the instrument, the rest receiving lateral forces from the suspended instrument; g. the interconnecting means including a tie rod member depending from the wallplate, the tie-member having one end attached to the wallplate and having the other end attached to the bearing plate; and h. the fingers and the raised portion of the bearing means cooperating to suspend the instrument so that a lateral component of the instrument weight causes bearing pressure on the bearing plate, thereby providing stability of the instrument in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the wall.
 2. A wall hanger for supporting a stringed instrument, of the type having a neck and a body, on a wall, the hanger comprising: a. a support including a hook means adapted to engage the neck of the instrument substantially oppositely disposed support points whereby to suspend the body of the instrument, the support being adapted to be attached to the wall; b. bearing means, downwardly disposed from the support, and adapted to provide lateral bearing for the body in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the wall; c. interconnecting means extending between the support and the bearing means to interconnect said bearing means to the support in hanging relation. d. the support including a wallplate; e. the hook means including a pair of horizontally spaced fingers extending forwardly and upwardly from the wallplate, the fingers being adapted to engage opposite side of the instrument neck between the fingers; f. the bearing means including a bearing plate; g. a boss extending forwardly of the bearing plate and adapted to engage frictionally in bearing the rear side of the instrument body; and h. the inclined fingers tending to urge the instrument neck against the wallplate and tending to urge the instrument body against the boss, whereby to preclude swinging of the suspended instrument in a direction parallel or perpendicular to the plane of the wall.
 2. means attaching the chain to one of the plates;
 3. A wall hanger for supporting a stringed instrument, of the type having a neck and a body, on a wall, the hanger comprising: a. a support including a hook means adapted to engage the neck of the instrument at substantially oppositely disposed support points whereby to suspend the instrument, the support being adapted to be attached to the wall; b. bearing means, downwardly disposed from the support, and adapted to provide lateral bearing for the body in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the wall; c. interconnecting means extending between the support and the bearing means to interconnect said support and bearing means; d. the support including a wallplate, the hook means projecting laterally from the wallplate; e. the bearing means including a bearing plate having a raised portion adapted to contact the body of the instrument; and f. the interconnecting means extending between the support and the bearing means including:
 3. the other plate including a flange provided with a hole;
 4. a pair of spaced brackets, one on each side of the hole, the brackets having recesses aligned with the hole; and
 5. a pin selectively inserted through the chain and seating in the bracket recesses to attach the chain To the said other plate, the chain being located through the hole and between the brackets. 